Lennox's Bright Nursery Hangout

We didn't know what we were having so wanted to design a fun, gender-neutral space. One great piece of advice I got was to make it a space that we would love being in, rather than worry about making things too baby-centric, especially since we're in a rental and by the time the kid actually notices, we may be somewhere else.

We decided against painting and worked with the pre-existing white walls and the hardwood floors, using splashes of colour, natural wood and contrasting patterns instead. We also were on a budget so wanted to use or repurpose as much stuff we already had around the house as possible. In the end, we did have to make a trip to IKEA but most of the stuff will still be usable as Lennox grows into a big kid room.

The silkscreen print above the dresser is by Montreal illustrator Raymond Beisinger. It served as partial inspiration for the colour scheme - we wanted a modern vintage feel. We were also into this IKEA hack, so we picked out a colour scheme by raiding the paint strip section of Home Depot, bought the dresser at IKEA and spray painted the drawers, and did the same with the nesting shelves (which will probably come in more handy later - right now they're just a home for Mr. Squirrel night light). We converted an IKEA kitchen cart into a change table.

Above the crib was one of my few successful DIY projects - we already had some square frames for vinyl LP covers, so I grabbed some patterned and solid card stock and cut out the animal silhouettes with an exacto knife and paired the cutouts and remaining outlines each with a plain or patterned background. We have a running inside joke about the mythical "bearwolf" so that made the animal choices easy.

We were able to include so many handmade items from family and friends, which made the nursery so much more personal. The peacock needlepoint was made by my mother in the late 60s, which I've had my eye on for years and finally procured when they recently downsized to a smaller place. The alphabet pillow was hand-embroidered by a friend, and the bunting was made by Lennox's aunt for the baby shower which I happily stole for the nursery. The stained glass lamp was made by a family friend years ago which I had long since commandeered for my own home. The turqouise and blue blanket on the glider was hand-knit by Lennox's great aunt. And the framed 8-bit gumball image on the bookshelf was made by Lennox's uncle.

Now that Lennox is here it's a well-loved room that has tons of space to play and hang out.